Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend unto my wisdom; incline thine ear to my understanding;
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:
2 That thou mayest preserve discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil;
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
6 Lest she should walk the even path of life, her ways wander, but she knoweth it not.
She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.
7 Now therefore, O ye children, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now therefore, son, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house;
Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,
9 Lest thou give thy vigour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel;
lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the merciless;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in the house of an alien;
lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.
11 And thou moan, when thine end cometh, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 And say: 'How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 Neither have I hearkened to the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me.
14 I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.'
I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
16 Let thy springs be dispersed abroad, and courses of water in the streets.
Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.
Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed; and have joy of the wife of thy youth.
Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A lovely hind and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; with her love be thou ravished always.
A loving doe and a graceful deer—let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.
20 Why then wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of an alien?
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He maketh even all his paths.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD. He examines all his paths.
22 His own iniquities shall ensnare the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
23 He shall die for lack of instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall reel.
He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
